Jason X is a 2001 American science fiction slasher film directed by Jim Isaac, written by Todd Farmer and starring Lexa Doig, Lisa Ryder, Chuck Campbell, and Kane Hodder in his fourth and final cinematic appearance as Jason Voorhees. It is the tenth installment in the Friday the 13th franchise, the first one since 1993's Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. In the film, Jason is cryogenically frozen for 445 years and awakens in 2455, after being found by a group of students, whom he subsequently stalks and kills one by one.
While other films of the franchise approach Jason as a human serial killer or undead monster, this movie views him through a science-fiction lens (referring to his inability to die as a "regenerative" power that can be studied and perhaps replicated) and then has him transformed by future-technology into a cyborg. This cyborg incarnation has been called Jason X in tie-in media, but is also often referred to by fans as "Uber Jason", a nickname the art design team and production crew used and which appeared in later comic books Jason X Special and Friday the 13th: Jason vs. Jason X.
When conceiving the film, Todd Farmer came up with the idea of sending Jason into space, suggesting to the studio that it was the only direction left for the series. Kane Hodder called into the Howard Stern Show on May 1, 2002 and shared "I was a little hesitant about (the plot) the first time I heard the story too." Jason X was theatrically released in the U.S. on April 26, 2002 to mostly negative reviews from critics, and grossed $17 million on a budget of $11–14 million. The next film in the series, Freddy vs. Jason, was released in 2003; it is a crossover with the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, set between the events of The Final Friday and Jason X.
Plot
In 2008, mass murderer Jason Voorhees is captured by the United States government and held at the Crystal Lake Research Facility. After numerous failed attempts to kill Jason over the following two years, government scientist Rowan LaFontaine suggests putting him in cryogenic stasis. Dr. Aloysius Wimmer and Sergeant Marcus arrive with soldiers, hoping to further research Jason's ability to heal from lethal wounds, as they believe it involves rapid cellular regeneration that can be replicated. Jason breaks free of his restraints and kills the soldiers and Wimmer. Rowan lures him into a cryogenic pod and activates it, but he ruptures the pod with his machete, stabbing her in the abdomen. Cryogenic fluid spills into the sealed room, freezing them both.
445 years later, Earth has become too polluted to support life and humans have moved to a new planet, Earth Two. On a field trip to Earth, Professor Braithwaite Lowe, his android companion Kay-Em 14, intern Adrienne Thomas, and students Tsunaron Peyton, Janessa Zachary, Azrael Benrubi, Kinsa Cooper, Waylander, and Stoney Zachary explore the abandoned Crystal Lake Research Facility, finding the frozen Jason and Rowan. They bring them aboard their spaceship, The Grendel, and revive Rowan while leaving Jason in the morgue, believing him dead.
Adrienne is ordered to dissect Jason's body but Rowan warns them of the danger, revealing Jason's nature and superhuman abilities. Lowe, who is in serious debt, calls his financial backer Dieter Perez on nearby space station Solaris. Perez recognizes Jason's name and notes his body could interest a collector. While Stoney and Kinsa have sex, Jason awakens and attacks Adrienne, freezing her face with liquid nitrogen before smashing her head to pieces on a counter. Jason takes a machete-shaped surgical tool and kills Stoney in front of Kinsa. Sergeant Elijah Brodski leads a group of soldiers to attack Jason. Jason interrupts a projected holographic game, breaking Azrael's back and bashing in Dallas's skull. He tries to attack Crutch, but Brodski and his soldiers arrive. After Brodski splits up his team, Jason kills them one by one.
Lowe orders pilot Lou to dock at Solaris. Jason kills Lou and the ship crashes through Solaris, destroying it and killing everyone aboard. Jason breaks into the lab, reclaims his machete and decapitates Lowe. With the Grendel crippled, the survivors head for a shuttle while Tsunaron upgrades KM-14. After crew member Crutch is electrocuted to death by Jason, Kinsa panics and attempts to escape on her own, but forgets to release the shuttle's fuel line, causing it to crash into the ship and explode. Tsunaron reappears with an upgraded Kay-EM 14 who wields weapons and combat skills to stand a better chance against Jason. After having his right arm, left leg, right ribs, and part of his head blasted off by Kay-EM 14, Jason seemingly dies, and his body is knocked into a nanite-equipped medical station. The survivors send a distress call, then set explosive charges to separate the ship's undamaged pontoon from the main section.
The medical station nanites rebuild Jason, who becomes a cyborg. With his new strength, Jason easily defeats KM-14 by punching her head off. As Tsunaron recovers her still-functioning head, Jason is stopped by Waylander, who sacrifices himself by setting off the charges while the others escape. Jason survives and punches a hole through the hull, causing Janessa to die in the vacuum. A power failure with the docking door forces Brodski to go outside in an EVA suit to fix it.
To distract Jason, a holographic simulation of Crystal Lake is created with two virtual teenage girls. After killing them, Jason realizes the deception just as the door is fixed. Still in his EVA suit, Brodski confronts Jason so the rest can escape. As they leave, the pontoon explodes, propelling Jason at high speed towards the survivors; Brodski intercepts Jason's space flight and maneuvers them both toward Earth Two's atmosphere, where they are incinerated on atmospheric entry. Tsunaron, Rowan, and Kay-EM 14 escape as Tsunaron assures Kay-EM 14 she will have a new body.
On Earth Two, a pair of teenagers are by a lake when they see what they believe is a falling star. The teenagers go to investigate as Jason's charred mask sinks to the bottom of the lake.
